Metal flanging



April 13, 1926.

G. E. THAQKRAY METAL FLANGING Filed Dec. 6, 192:

r .4 12"; j I .1. '5 YE; 1

hum

Patented Apr. 13, 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,580,931 PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. THACKRAY, 0F WESTMONT BOROUGH, PENNSYLVANIA,

METAL FLANGIIN'G.

Application filed December 6, 1922. Serial No. 605,329.

My invention relates to metal Hanging andparticularly to forming what I call internal flanges, namely, those which are shaped or pressed from a metal plate or other metal shape, including re-entrant angles with or without curved corners. 7 By internal flange I mean one that is pressed or shaped from the marginal metal which surrounds a notch or opening, or is adjacent to a re-entrant angle in the metal, and in doing this, part of the material of the flange and particularly the edge portion of the completed flange, is of greater lineal dimensions than before.

I have found that where attempts have been made to produce flanges of this kind there is a tendency for the metal to stretch inthe internal angles and to a lesser extent in the metal adjacent thereto, and when the flange is of substantial width this action has a tendency to reduce its cross section and in some cases to actually sever the material in or near the re-entrant angle. An example of this is as follows :-If I strive toform a flange around the margin of a notch or opening in a plate, which opening is approximately 12 inches square and preferably provided with rounded corners, and the flange to be formed of the marginal metal surrounds said opening and is tobe pressed outwardly and ultimately stand at anangle from the other metal of the plate, that the lineal' edge perimeter before flanging the opening of the flange would be 12 times 4- or 4:8 inches,.while if the flange is formed the lineal perimeter of the edge of the flange, which is say 3 inches deep, would be four times 18 inches, or 72 inches, thus requiring the edge of the flange to stretch on an average of 50 per cent. The stretch, however, under such conditions, would be more concentrated in the corners with the result of thinning the corner metal to less than one-half its original thickness, and in some cases the metal in the corners would be torn,

thus making a flange which isdefective and useless. In forming flanges around openings or notches of various other forms some what similar results will occur, as will be readily understood.

It is the object of my invention to obviate this difficulty and to form internal flanges withoutundue thinning or undue localization of said thinning.

In order to accomplish this, forexample,

in the case of a metal plate, a notch or opening will be first cut therein and the plate then heated to a good red heat, if the ma terial is of such a nature as to be worked more easily at such a temperature. After i this is done, portions of the plate adjacent the re-entrant angles or the corners of the opening or notch are cooled by any means to dull redness, such asby spraying water thereon through certain constricted areas of the forming die, or by supplying liquid air thereto or air .under pressure, or in fact thev cooling of these portions may be accon1- plishedby any means desired. After this is done flanges are formed surrounding the opening or notch and pressed from the body of the plate to ultimately project at an angle thereto, the opening or notch thus being made larger in size. The corners may also be cooled to a blackheat ifdesired.

On account of the fact that the corner portions are cool they will stretch less than the hotter portions, with the result that a flange of substantially uniform thickness may be obtained, or at least one that is not unduly thinned in the corners. The flanging may either be done by hand hammers or suitable tools, or may preferably be accomplished in dies, as will hereinafter be more fully described; i 7

Having thus given a general description of my invention, I will now, in order to make the matter more clear, refer to the annexed sheet of drawings, whichforms part of this specification, and in which like characters refer to like parts.

Figure 1 is a top plan View of a portion of a bbttom-die having a hole of shape shown portions of the plates to be flanged by means of fluid passing through holes in the die; Figures 4: to 7 are illustrations similar to Figure 1, showing different shaped openings in the dies and the plates to be flanged; Figure 8 is a plan View showing a different way of applying cooling fluid to the corners of a plate; Figure 9 is a cross sectional elevation of the parts illustrated in Figure 8 showing the flexible connection and valve for controlling the fluid, the section being taken on the major axis of the cooler, and Figure 10 illustrates another way of cooling the corner parts of the die to cool the corresponding portions of the plate. Referring now to the characters of reference on the drawings :-1 is the bottom die in general; 2 is'the opening in the bottom die, which is shown as formed of two rectangles joined by reverse curves, this shape beng intended to represent the bolster opening in a pressed metal truck side frame made of steel Or iron plate. 3 is a portion of the plate to be flanged as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1 and in full lines in Figure 2. 4 are perforations in the bottom die which connect with the opening 5 in the die,

to which opening the pipe 6 is connected for .thepurposeof supplying cooling fluid of any kind thereto. These openings may be closed if desired and thecorners ofthe'die cooled by circulating any cooling fluid, or liquid air therein, in which case the fluid does not contact with the plate, but the cooled parts of the die provide the cooling effect, as illustrated in Figure 10. The marginall portions of the plate which are to be flanged are 7, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2-; these after'being flanged are indicated as 8 in dotted lines.' In order to perform the flanging more easily it should be noted that the corners of the top and bottom dies are rounded, and these may berounded more or less as desired for this purpose, as if they were of a square shape they would have a cutting or shearing effect. 9 is the platen portion of the top die, 10 is the downwardly projecting portion thereof, which conforms to the shape of the hole 2, excepting that it is smaller than said hole by an amount equal to or greater than twice the thickness of the plate to be flanged.

e As illustrated in Figure 4, 11 is thebottom die, 12 is a diamond shaped hole with rounded interior angles therein,.13 are jet perforations adjacent the corners of the bottom die 11, and 14 is a portion of the plate to be flanged as illustrated 'in dotted lines, while 15 are the margins of the plate to be bent or flanged.

Referring now to Figure 5, 16 is the bottom die, 17 is a substantially square hole with rounded corners therein, 18 are jet perforations in the corners of the bottom die, 19 is the portion of the plate'to be flanged,

forations inthe die, 2 1 is a portion of the plate to be flanged, and 25 are the margins thereof which are to be bent or flanged.

Referring now to F1gure 7, 26 1s a part of the bottom die, 27 is an opening therein having two parallel sides with rounded ends, 28 are, the jet perforations adjacent the rounded ends or what might be termed the corners of the opening, 29 is a portion of the plate to be flanged, and 30 are the margins thereof which ultimately form the flanges.

.:teferring now to Figures 8 and 9, 3 is the portion of the plate to be flanged, showing a re-entrant angle therein with a rounded corner, 31 is a spray head which may be formed of metal in the shape indicated, this being hollow and provided with two extendingportionswhich are adapted to be close to and on the opposite sides of the plate adjacent the re-entrant angle thereof. The inner portions of the spray head are provided with a flexible hose connection 3a and a regulate mg valve 35, while 36 is a closure for the spray head. i

In order to prevent water or other fluid from being sprayed on other'portions of the platethan those directly adjacent the cor ners of the opening, I prefer to have the margins 36 of the spray head rest upon or close to the top surface of the plate, so that the water or other fluid will not run over the top of the plate, but will be discharged downwardly andrun away from the lower edges of the spray head,'this construction being indicated in Figure 9.

As illustrated in Figure 10 the corner portions of the die 4 O are cooled by circulation of the cooling fluid in the space 37, and this" is delivered thereto by the supply pipe 38 and discharged through the exhaust pipe 39.

Having, thus described my invention I will now explain its operation :A metal plate is provided with a notch or a hole therein of any shape desired, and this may be accomplished by punching, shearing, or in any other way, and after this is done the plate is heated to a good red heat or whatever heat may be best for the subsequent flanging operation. The plate is then placed in position on the bottom die and the material adjacent the re-entrant corners 1s copled by cooling fluid or by contact with the cooled corners of the die. 'After this is done the flange is formed by projecting the top die against the margins of the plate,

and by reason of thecooled corners of the plate, these have a tendency to maintain their thickness with reasonable uniformity while drawing the material to larger dimensions, Whereas the adjacent hot portions, by reason of their heat, will stretch more easily and regularly, and in a measure feed the portions adjacent the corners to thereby maintain an approximately uniform edge thickness. After the top die has been forced to its final position it is then withdrawn and the plate removed. The method of accomplishing this by means of the apparatus illustrated in Figures 8 and 9 is slightly different, namely, after the plate has been cut and heated as above, the portions thereof adjacent the re-entrant angles are quickly cooled by spraying with the spray nozzle 31 in the position indicated in these figures, and after this is done the spray nozzles are removed and the plate placed upon the bottom die as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, which die, however, does not in this case need the cooling perforation and connections, as this cooling has already been effected before the plate-is set on the die. The dies are then pressed together and flanges formed as previously described.

In order to produce a flange around the marginal portion ofan opening or not-ch in a plate, the lineal dimensions of the edge of the flange are increased as before mentioned with a tendency to reduce the thickness of the plate on its edge portion, and when such openings or notches have reentrant angles or corners, the stretch will be greater in said corners, and this is what my invention intends to obviate. I-Io\vover, under certain other circumstances when an internal flange is formed from the margins of a plate, .and the hole therein is substantially circular, elliptical or oval, or has an opening with large corner radii, a more gradual thinning of the metal will occur with greater uniformity in the various portions, and to such cases my invention does not so well apply, as it relates more particularly to preventing undue thinning in the more angular re-entrant angles or corners.

Although I have described and illustrated my invention in considerable detail, I do not wish to be limited to the exact and speciflc details thereof as shown and described, but may use such modifications in, substitutions for, or equivalents thereof as are embraced within the scope of my invention, or as pointed out in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The methodof flanging metal, which consists in providing an opening having reentrant angles or corners therein, then heating the metal, then subjecting the same to local cooling adjacent the re-entrant angles or corners of said opening, and then forming a flange by pressing down the margins of the plate adjacent the notch or opening.

2. The method of flanging a metal plate provided with an. opening having corners therein, by subjecting the metal in the vicinity of the corners of the opening to local cooling, and them forming a flange from the marginal metal surrounding said opening.

3. The method of flanging a metal plate provided with an opening having corners therein, by subjecting the metal in the vicinity of the corners of the opening to local cooling, then simultaneously forming a flange from the various portions of marginal metal surrounding said openin l. Apparatus for flanging hot metal plate provided with an opening having corners therein, comprising a bottom die having an opening therein corresponding to the shape of the flange to be formed, a top die having a projection of shape similar to said opening, but of smaller-size, and means before flanging for cooling the'metal adjacent to the corners of the opening in said plate.

5. The combination with a dieforming apparatus adapted to make integral flanges around an opening in a metal plate, said opening having rounded corners, of a die provided with recesses therein adjacentto the corners of the opening, and means for supplying cooling material to said recesses.

6. The combination with a die forming apparatus for making internal flanges aroundan opening in a metal plate, said opening having re-entrant angles, of a spray. head adapted to supply cooling fluid to the plates adjacent the re-entrant angles of their openings.

In Witness whereof I hereunto atfix my signature.

GEORGE E. THAOKRAY. 

